Strength of the Wounded
by arjasmo
Summary: The Doctor was always ther to save those who need it. He is a hero in all rights. But happens when there is an explosion in the TARDIS, the Doctor is gravely injured and there is a terrible man loose inside? Can Rose save the Doctor, the TARDIS and herself?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This story was written in conjunction with RoseWilliams15. She had it up on her profile for a bit, but let me have it permanently. She is the master of fluff however, and I credit her with almost all if not all of it. She is a truly talented writing partner. We enjoy to hear what you think. Our fan fic is the beginning of what we hope will be a journey of writing.**

Rose leaned against the console of the TARDIS and let out a long breath. It had been a rough couple of days. The Doctor was busy with the controls but she could tell he was just as worn out as she was. He had circles under his eyes and his hair was not his usually stylish messy it was more bedraggled.

"Doctor?" she asked after watching him for a minute. He looked up at her anxiously over his glasses.

"Rose?"

"I think we need a vacation."

"I agree," he returned to what he was doing for a moment, deep in thought. After a few minutes he looked up with a great big grin on his face, "I know the perfect place!"

"Hold on a sec Doctor, before we go anywhere, promise me something."

"Anything Rose."

"No danger."

"What fun is there without a bit of danger?"

"Just promise me?"

"Fine, I promise, but don't complain to me if you get bored!" he replied looking deeply into her eyes.

"I won't."

"Now, it will take a bit to get there so why don't you pop of for a shower and a kip and I will come get you when we arrive."

"That sounds amazing, but what should I wear?"

"Oh not to worry I'll take care of that." With that Rose started making her way to her room. Until now she hadn't realized just how tired she really was. As soon as she reached her room all thoughts of a shower had disappeared and all she could think of was laying down in her bed.

Meanwhile, the Doctor had been elbow deep under the console rewiring things when he shouted "Aha got it!" Looking up, he found that Rose was still gone. It was strange to him because they didn't typically spend much time apart. Before he knew what he was doing, he found himself walking toward her bedroom. He knocked on the door but didn't hear a reply so he let himself in quietly. He took a quick look around and found her fast asleep on her bright pink comforter. He noticed she was shivering slightly in her sleep, so he walked over and pulled the blankets over her, careful to tuck them just under her chin. As soon as he did so Rose seemed to sink a little deeper into the mattress, getting just a bit more comfortable, and let out a small sigh, all without waking up. He liked how peaceful she looked. He knew he had put her through a lot over the last couple of days. He stood there for a moment, thinking about their last adventure.

It occurred to him then how long it had been since Rose had eaten. The Doctor had nothing better to do, so he went to the kitchen and started making some food for Rose. He had learned to make literally hundreds of different foods over the years but decided to keep it simple and just make chips and finger sandwiches because he knew they were her favorite. When the food was done the Doctor put it on a nice little tray and brought it to her room. He had intended on just leaving it by her bedside and going back to the console room, but just as he was setting down the plate the fork slid off and it the floor. He cringed slightly hoping that it wasn't enough to wake her. Sadly, he saw her stirring next to him. It took her a second but Rose sat up and stretched, inhaling deeply through her nose, smelling the food, feeling her stomach rumble as she did so. She ran her fingers through her gnarly hair and made a very unattractive noise with her mouth. The Doctor stood there awkwardly; fully aware that she had no idea of his presence. After a minute she opened her eyes and they took a second to focus. When they did she saw him standing there and her now open eyes widened and her face turned bright red.

"Hello there" he said with a grin that was just holding back his laughter.

"Doctor I..." Rose tried before he interrupted her.

"I didn't mean to wake you; I just thought you might be a bit hungry."

"I'm famished!"

"Oh good, I made you finger sandwiches and chips!" he flopped down next to her and they had a little bed picnic, it was simple but they both enjoyed it. When they were done he got up and said, "Are you ready to go now?"

Rose looked at him for a moment, "I still haven't taken a shower yet."

"What is it with you humans and your hygiene?" he asked with mock disgust in his voice.

"I will only be a minute! And anyway I don't see any clothes for me to change into."

"Blimey! I almost forgot. You get in the shower and I will go find you some clothes," he said without moving towards the door.

"I'm not getting out of bed until you leave! Off you pop!" she said as she pushed him away from the bed with her feet. "Oi! You get out now!"

"You don't have to be so rude!" she chucked a small heart shaped pillow at him and hit him squarely in the chest. He hugged it briefly and lobbed it back onto her lap. He then hopped a little, spun around and practically skipped out headed towards the wardrobe room to find her an outfit suitable for their trip.

"This should do," he said to himself as he grabbed the outfit he was looking at and started walking back to her room. He made sure to knock so that he didn't make things awkward, and after she didn't respond he went inside and set it on her bed. He couldn't help but laugh when he heard her singing in the shower. He then retreated to the console room to see if they had made it to their destination yet and waited for her.


	2. Chapter 2

Rose walked out of the shower wrapped in a towel and peeked into her room to be sure the Doctor wasn't waiting for her. He had a habit of being rather clueless when it came to personal boundaries. She took a minute to survey herself in the mirror. The last adventure on the sanctuary base had left her a little beat up but mostly the bruises and such were under her clothes. The Doctor always offered to use his dermal regenerator on her and she had had him use it a few times. Generally she liked to take care of her wounds on her own, mostly because he made such a fuss when she was injured and looked so guilty. He would apologize so profusely it made her nervous. Besides, everything seemed to be coming along nicely it was easy to ignore the marks and such.

She hummed to herself as she stepped into her bedroom. There she found that he had set the clothes out for her nicely on her bed. They looked "gypsyesque" in nature. They were made with iridescent material with little ornaments meant to make tinkling sounds when she walked. The top was much like of a bikini with fringe on the bottom to showing off her abdomen. The pants were slim fitting at the waist but loosened as they extended to her ankles. The iridescent fabric was on top of various earth tone colored fabrics so that the outfit wasn't entirely see-through. After putting on the ensemble, Rose turned to admire herself in the mirror. "Thank God I said no to those desserts yesterday," she said aloud to herself with a laugh. While looking at the mirror, she saw a pair of simple, beautiful sandals lying next to her bed that she hadn't noticed before. "Oh he's good," she said with admiration.

She tiptoed into the console room in an effort to sneak up on the Doctor, but was betrayed by her tinkling attire. "Oh there you are!" the Doctor said, his eyes lighting up and a smile spreading across his face. "You look marvelous!" he breathed as he reached out and grabbed her hands in front of him, holding her gaze and unknowingly making her breathless. His eyes drifted to her left shoulder, where peeking out of the top was a big scab over a gash that previously had been hidden under her t-shirts. He looked back into her eyes, the question evident on his face. "What…?"he began, initially reaching out to touch it then slowly pulling his hand back.

"Oh I must have gotten that on the sanctuary base. There was a lot of running around and crashing into things."

"I didn't know you got wounded."

"I get wounded all the time, it's no big deal."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Doctor, it's really nothing. I mean REALLY it's nothing." His eyes were so sad and she felt the urge to continue. "They are not wounds so much as badges of honor; they mean I am fighting a good fight."

"Rose, I bring you along on this grand adventure so you can see everything; I never wanted you to be hurt or scared. If something was to happen to you I…I…"

"Doctor, please, I am here voluntarily. I love travelling with you and wouldn't trade it for the world. Things are bound to happen but that only adds to it. You have to know that." She smiled sincerely at him and he bowed his head then looked back up to her grinning slightly. It seemed as though he accepted her argument, at least for now.

The moment was broken when the TARDIS made its signature wheezing noise along with a sizable jolt as they hit the ground, signaling their arrival. "Oh we've arrived!" he exclaimed as he dropped her hands unceremoniously and went to the coral pillar to drab his jacket, then thought again and left it where it was. Rose sat down hard on the jump seat letting out a breath she did not know she had been holding. "You coming then?" He asked, clearly not noticing the effect he had on her. It took a moment but Rose slowly gathered herself and got up. "Wouldn't miss it!" she replied and they were off.  
-

"Oh Rose, you will love this place. It's a lovely little town and the people are well… lovely!" He beamed at her. "Oh and they have this drink called Fizzamon. It's a fizzy soda like drink that is sort of spicy and tastes of cinnamon and all kinds of spices. It fizzes all the way down too. Hence the epic burping contests that ensue." He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the TARDIS doors grinning all the way. He reached out and pulled the doors open for her and she was hit by a sweet breeze; she inhaled deeply, grabbed his arm and headed out the door.

They were in an orchard surrounded by trees with huge pink blooms. The pink flowers formed a canopy and the sun peeked through in little specks. "Oh, they look like cotton candy!" Rose breathed, hugging his arm a little tighter.

"The puffy pink blossoms of the Protunga tree." the Doctor answered, popping each "P" in turn. "The fruit will be ripe in a few months. It tastes just like pink lemonade. Be careful though, it causes quite the tummy ache if you eat more than 20. Then the aftermath can be truly scary."

"Like death?" she asked.

"Well…diarrhea, so yes kinda like death." He beamed at her.

"So you speak from experience?" she asked chuckling.

"Ah…erm…let's just say it's best not discussed in polite company."

"I'm polite company?"

"Very polite!" he said, bumping her lightly with his hip.

"Ok," Rose said after a pause," I know there is a history lesson here somewhere. There always is, so let's get started."

"Are you telling me that you don't like my history lessons?"

"No, I actually really like them! " He gave her a funny look. " No Doctor, I really do, I just know that they are inevitable and if I want to get to the fizzy drink part of my afternoon I better let you start!"

"Thank you... I think." He grinned. "Ok well… Welcome to the Planet of Sawoof. Right now we are on the continent of Nar and in the country of Narwid. We are entering the town of Humeria, nestled in the valley below us." They had just started a noticeable decline in the path. Not quite enough for there to be stairs, but almost. "This orchard is only a few years old. Each tree was planted in memory of someone lost in their civil war."

"Oh that's sad," she replied.

"Yeah, this region was embroiled in a brutal civil war for over a hundred years. This valley was the scene of some of the worst atrocities too. There was a blockade here so the people were starving."

As he spoke the tree canopy cleared to reveal a gorgeous valley surrounded by high, snowcapped craggy mountains.

"It's beautiful!" she exclaimed

"Yes it is, but as you can see, only one way in and one way out. Because of all the mountains there was a thriving mining industry. This town supplied all the raw materials for ammunition production in the region. All the enemy had to do was block the roads, starve the populous and then in turn the troops soon didn't have the ammunition."

"So you were here then?"

"Yes, it was technically me, but with another face. I came to… to help. "

"You helped the people?"

"Yes, a bit, just helped out."

"Yeah, you said that already. But is it safe? You told me you would take me somewhere safe. Is the war over?"

"Oh yeah!" he exclaimed, a new smile forming on his face, "There are still a few pockets of resistance in the southern areas, but most of the rebel factions have been thwarted. "

"A hundred years is a really long war. What were they fighting over?"

"That's just it; it started with two brothers fighting over who would control the family farm animals."

"Really, a hundred year war over cows?" she laughed.

The doctor chuckled too, "Well this planet's equivalent of cows, yes. I really think that after a while the two sides forgot what they were fighting over. When one side got the upper hand, the other side turned to guerilla warfare. It got quite ugly for a while. The country, well this half of the planet may never totally recover. It was so messy, it sloshed into other regions. There was tremendous damage to both sides. "

He continued, "the people here are wonderful and generous…mildly telepathic too. I think that's why they liked me so much. "

"Yeah because you have such a terrible personality…" she trailed off. The Doctor was suddenly pushing her behind him and taking a defensive posture. She could hear fast approaching footsteps. Lots of them. She got a lump in the pit of her stomach but tried to peer out from behind the Doctor.

Before the doctor stood about 50 or so people Rose assumed were villagers. They were all short in stature; the tallest among them was about 4 and a half feet tall. The all wore light flowy pants and skirts and brightly colored tops. Some of the women were dressed similarly to Rose. They all wore a similar expression; one of mild confusion and interest. It occurred to Rose that is was the expression that you had when you thought you recognized someone but weren't sure it was really them. A man stepped to the front of the crowd. He was among the tallest, with a big bushy mustache and little round glasses perched on his nose. He wore a similar outfit to the others, but his included a bright yellow suit vest and a long purple coat.

The Doctor spoke first, "Agumon?" The man froze, then leaned forward a bit eyes squinting at the Doctor. He lifted his hand and held his arm out straight, fingers extended. The Doctor did the same and touched finger tips with the man. A smile slowly spread across Agumon's face.

"Doctor? It IS you. Doctor! Our Savior! You have returned!" He spun around to face the townspeople. "It's him! The Doctor has returned. He is the same man, just in a different face. Rejoice! We shall celebrate!" The crowd surged forward happily whooping and laughing. They all reached out to touch the Doctor in turn, each with a warm smile. Some of the older women touched the Doctor then began openly weeping, yet smiling at the same time.

Rose stood, now rather alone, at the back of the group, her mouth agape. She was used to people reacting both positively and negatively to the Doctor. She had never seen such a large group of admirers. She felt a little proud, a teeny bit jealous, but more than anything, curious. He has never talked about all the amazing things he did. Sometimes it felt like she was travelling with her best friend, and other times like he was a complete stranger. She reveled in this thought for a few moments when she heard, "Rose, ROSE! Keep up!" The crowd was moving towards the village, the Doctor swept up among them. He managed to get himself near the edge of mass of people and was reaching out for her. He finally was able to reach her hand and pulled her in close to him. "I don't want to lose you in the fray. Stay close."

Rose leaned in close to his ear. Above the entire hubbub, amongst all the confusion she had so many questions. So many thoughts rattled around in her head. She drew several breaths and started to speak multiple times, but wasn't sure where to start. She finally came up with the most intelligent thing she could, given the circumstances. "Explain." Was all she could mutter.

"Well I helped them…Iike I said."

"Doctor, helping someone usually means something like unclogging a drain or shoveling snow. They are calling you their savior."

"I suppose different cultures have different meanings for the word savior. Here I'm guessing it means someone who saved them. Not like you would save someone from drowning in a frozen river, because I am not that strong of a swimmer and there were an awful lot of them."

"Focus" said Rose, elbowing him lightly.

"Oh yeah, so I helped them," He looked at her sideways "I kind of broke up the blockade and stuff, and encouraged the rebels to leave."

"That's kinda big stuff Doctor."

"I suppose it is, at least to them."


	3. Chapter 3

The crowd led them to the edge of town, where they were joined by even more people. The homes and buildings in town looked war torn. Many were crumbled or held up with make shift patchwork. Some giant craters remained in the ground with obvious scorch marks around them. Some of the homes were reduced to rubble and it looked like no one had bothered to rebuild them. There was evidence of raging fires and explosions. It was difficult to figure out what was old or new damage. The people seemed to ignore the rubble and delightedly danced around the holes as they walked down the roads. The group was approaching an open air market in the town square. The buildings changed now; there were bright wall hangings and flags as well as colorful shop fronts and flowers planted in various size pots and hanging from window boxes. The little shops were all over the square. They offered all sorts of bright clothing, blankets, flowers and trinkets. Rose wanted to stop at each one, but the crown urged them to the center of the square were a group of important looking men stood, smiling.

The doctor approached the men and there was a flurry of hugs, hand shaking and fast talking. Rose took a moment to turn and take in her surroundings. She identified a few shops she was definitely heading to when she had a moment. Something caught her eye in a nearby alleyway. A small woman, seemingly smaller than the other women, lurked in a shadow. When she saw Rose she stepped into the light and grinned broadly. She waved at Rose with small but misshapen fingers. Rose could only imagine what this woman's life had been like. She must have grown up and only known war. Rose felt a pang of sympathy for her and grinned back at the woman and waved a little. She then heard the Doctor calling for her, and turned briefly to tell him to hold on a tick, when she turned back the woman was gone.

The Doctor was deep in conversation with the group of old men but looked up as she approached. "Rose, Agumon and the others want to talk a bit". He reached into his pocket and pulled out multiple bills of what she assumed was a local currency and handed them to her. "It's safe for you here, look around; I'll meet up with you in a bit." She gave him a look but he had already turned around and was back in conversation with the men. She sighed, took a breath and forged ahead.

She walked into the market area a little slow at first, not sure how she felt about exploring a new planet without her favorite exploring buddy. Soon she found herself enjoying her time. The market had heaps of great trinkets for sale. The market itself was a sight to be seen. Everything was brightly colored and sparkly. She laughed to herself thinking how her mum would have loved it here. Oh and the smells! She breathed in deeply. There was cinnamon like the Doctor had mentioned, but something spicy and also herbal. A lot of the booths seemed to be selling herbal remedies, salves and teas. She poked around and got some lip salve that tasted like bananas and some wonderful lotion that the shop keeper swore would both soothe and repair damage within a week. This struck her as a little funny, given her current occupation. She figured she could try it on her shoulder wound once it had healed, since the Doctor had made such a fuss. She had a few more places on her body to put it as well that she had chosen not to share with the Doctor.

She wandered over to the textile area and was amazed at the lightweight but strong nature of the fabrics. The colors were dazzling too. It was hard to decide what she wanted. Visions of all kinds of projects she could start danced in her head. She did have downtime now and again, usually while the Doctor was buried under the console making repairs or when she had had enough of him and wanted a break. She finally picked up some beautiful purple and green fabric that reflected a shimmering light in the sun. She was hoping to turn it into a bag, or a skirt, heck maybe both.

The people were very kind to her throughout the market. It was a little unnerving though that they all wanted to touch her. The older generation took her hand and thanked her. This was as little awkward because she really didn't know what really happened and she certainly had no hand in it. The younger people patted her on the shoulders or shook her hand. As she was leaning over a table of beautiful and intricate earrings she felt a tug on her pant leg. She looked up to see a very old man standing next to her; he took her hand in his and bowed his head. Surprisingly this did not feel weird, but made her a little dizzy. He repeatedly bowed and it looked as if he may be meditating but he didn't make a sound. She started to feel a little weird after he didn't let go after a few minutes. It was then when she felt another hand on her shoulder and someone lean in close, "They get their telepathy through touching," whispered a familiar voice in her ear.

"Hi!" she said, as the old man moved over to hold the Doctors hand. "What exactly is he doing?"

"He's showing gratitude. You've noticed that they don't talk much here, except maybe to you. They talk to each other by touching, but with you they have to speak."

"Great. Way to make me feel like a weak brained human. "Rose huffed.

"Nah... Intelligence has nothing to do with it. They were born that way."

Soon the old man grinned at the Doctor let go of his hand and backed away. Rose raised her eyebrows at the Doctor; he smiled, took her hand and led her to the food area. "He seemed to have a lot to say," she said, voice low as they passed another group of smiling locals.

"He was telling me his version of the story. He lost his wife and daughter during the blockade. His son just barely lived, but is now a father himself. "

"Oh how sad!"

"They are a resilient people Rose. He still mourns his wife and daughter, but is proud of his son and loves his grandkids. He has lived his life; he was a teacher before the war and then learned how to make weapons and became an accomplished gunsmith."

"Wow that was quite the conversation you had."

"Yeah." He replied, almost a whisper, this head down. She thought she detected his Adams Apple bobbing and then a quiet sniffle. She let him be in his head space for a bit while they walked.

"Aha!" He exclaimed, seemingly out of the blue. Rose jumped a little. He squeezed her hand. "Here we are Rose the universe's most famous fizzy drink. Well the planet's or..." He rubbed his neck, "ok it's mostly a regional thing." The Fizzamon was just as the Doctor described. It fizzed all the way down and she couldn't help but burp. She blushed and uttered, "s'cuse me."

"By all means Rose, enjoy it! It's local custom."

They strolled back towards the center square arm in arm, burping and giggling. The daylight was fading and they could hear music starting up and the sound of voices and cheering. The main square was lit with colorful lamps. As they approached they could see the townspeople holding hands and dancing in rotating circles. "Gotta love a traditional dance Rose," the Doctor chirped, beaming at her. They watched for a few minutes, until the townspeople noticed the Doctor standing there. One of the dancing circles broke their line and approached, the end person grabbing his hand and dragging him into the dance. He looked back at her smiling apologetically.

"Just go!" she yelled after him, matching his grin. The dancing continued into the night. Rose found a comfy perch and watched the activity. People brought her small spicy meat sandwiches and more Fizzimon. Despite being essentially abandoned by her companion, Rose was thoroughly enjoying herself. She watched him dance among the townspeople laughing and carrying on. He frequently looked over to her and she would hold up her soda and toast him or wave and smile. He would wave back mouthing "I'm sorry," then be pulled back into the scrum.

The dance went on into the night. Rose never got bored but after some time she became tired and had to suppress her yawns. She leaned back into her seat and let the music surround her. She found her eyelids drooping. She felt a gentle touch on her cheek. "Hey there sleepy head," crooned the Doctor, "wanna head home?"

"Hey," she yawned,"how did you break free?"

"Oh I told them my companion was a lightweight and I needed to see to her."

"Lightweight huh?" she asked, lightly punched his arm.

"Shall we Dame Rose? "He offered his arm.

"Why thank you sir Doctor." She took his arm and hopped off her seat.

"Doctor," she started shyly, after they had walked out of the main area of the square," these people love you. What you did for them, it must have been magnificent. "

"Oh…" he replied softly," Well anyone has the chance to be magnificent Rose, you just need the right set of circumstances."

Just then a man came and tapped the Doctor on the arm. He turned and had a brief exchange with him but Rose was too tired to focus. He turned back to her and gave her a gentle nudge towards the TARDIS. "Keep going, I'll be right behind you." He gave her a sincere smile and then turned to deal with the men. Rose smiled. It was rare that he was so attentive to so many people. She didn't mind sharing him for a time. He deserved it. She kept up her pace, knowing that he would join her shortly.

Rose continued on back towards the TARDIS. She heard a noise behind her and turned to see the old lady she had seen in the alleyway earlier. Rose bent over with a smile to look at the woman in the eye. The lady reached out and took her hand, pressing a small box into it. "Oh no, I couldn't," said Rose trying to give the box back.

"This is from our people, for all that the Doctor has done for us," the old woman said, her voice raspy but quiet.

"Thank you!" Rose took the box and slipped it into her pocket.

"Come on Rose!" the Doctor was reaching for her other hand to guide her back with him. Rose turned to go with him, turned back to thank the old lady again but she has melted into the crowd.

"Where to now?" he asked, letting her hand go to open the TARDIS. He continued," I was thinking somewhere futuristic and Earthlike. We can go to Abrea in the year 7000. They have hovercrafts and make a mean chip! Oh and there are some wonderful things happening in London in the year-"

"Oh Doctor, I almost forgot!" she interrupted him, "there was a sweet old lady and she gave me a present for you." She pulled the box out of her pocket.

"Really? What is it?" he said, eyes fixed on the console, fingers working furiously to set a new course.

"I'm not sure, it's just some sort of box thing. I'm, not sure what it does."

"That doesn't really narrow it down, Rose." He looked up and looked at the box for the first time. As soon as he saw it he went pale and his face tightened.

"Rose, put the box down slowly and move away as quickly as you can." His voice was calm but his tone was urgent.

"What's going on, Doctor?"

"Apparently not everyone in that town was happy with my return. That woman gave you a…" Just then the box began to shake. The Doctor grabbed Rose with strength she did not know he had and shoved her towards the TARDIS hallway. He glanced down at the box. As he did this, it collapsed upon itself as if it was being sucked down a drain. There was an instant of complete silence like it had pulled all sound into it. Next came an ear splitting explosion and a blinding light; then nothing.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Rose woke with a start. As soon as she opened her eyes, she began to panic. Where was she? How did she get here? Where did all of this smoke come from? And most importantly, where was the Doctor? It was then that she remembered him pushing her out of the console room, away from the bomb. She also remembered looking over her shoulder during the explosion for an explanation and seeing him fly the safety bars that surrounded the console. _I need to get back to him, what if he is about to regenerate? _She thought. Then she felt her stomach drop. _What if he already has?_

She had hit the ground hard after the explosion, and found it hard to walk so she decided that crawling to find the Doctor was probably her best option at the moment. There was also the fact that the smoke that filled the hall was making it hard to see and breathe, and the closer to the ground that she got the thinner it got.

After a few minutes of miserable wandering, Rose had made her way into the console room. As expected, the smoke was even worse in here, Rose found herself coughing and blind. She had been in the TARDIS long enough to know roughly where the console was, so she started moving that way, deciding that would be the best place to start looking for the Doctor.

Just before she had reached the console, she felt something warm and squishy under her hand. "What the," was all she got out before she heard the slightest of groans come from beneath her. "Oh God, Doctor!" She said, relief flooding through her words. This faded immediately as she realized that the warmness she had felt before was his blood.

"Doctor, can you hear me? Please don't regenerate! I'm going to help you, just please don't die on me." Rose said with tears welling in her eyes. The Doctor shook slightly, and said a single word "Med-bay" and was silent.

Rose had been there a couple times before for little cuts and things of that nature but wasn't sure if she could get him there on her own, he wasn't exactly light as a feather. Then she looked down at the scratches all over his face and it occurred to her that she had never really seen him hurt before, not even when he was about to regenerate. She realized just how much he needed her right now, so she stood up shakily, put her hands under his armpits and started to drag him away from the console and into the hallway. The TARDIS must have figured out was happening because she didn't have to go far before she ended up in the med-bay. "Thank you." She whispered as she drug the Doctor over to the bed on the other side of the room. It was too high off of the ground to lift him onto so she stepped on the button underneath it to bring it as close as she could to the floor. She set him down a bit hard. "Sorry!" she said but he still seemed unconscious so it didn't matter.

She raised the table and took a step back to finally get a good look at him. Her heart sank. His face was pale and streaked with blood and soot. There was blood soaked into his suit jacket and shirt and he wasn't conscious. A sob escaped her lips as she reached to caress his face. "Doctor? Are you there? Please don't regenerate. I'm here. I'll make you better." Even as she said that she didn't believe herself. A low groan came from the Doctor and he sighed heavily.

Tears streaked her cheeks as she lightly ran her fingers over him. What could she do? '_Wait, get ahold of yourself Rose_' she thought.' _You can do this, you HAVE to do this._' She drew a deep breath. She remembered that in school she had had to take a first aid class. The tall, loud instructor had bellowed Airway! Breathing! Circulation! At the time she had seriously thought he was daft. But mission accomplished, it stuck in her brain. She gently nudged his shoulder. He hissed, groaned and mumbled something unintelligible. Ok, airway check! She put her face up next to his and looked down at his chest. He had even rise and fall of his chest. Breathing check! Now circulation. Well he was pale, but he was groaning off and on and moving his head. She found a not-so-bloody part of his shirt and put her head on his chest listening for the two hearts. Her face squished a little into the wet shirt. Two fast beating rhythms could be made out. Whew, ok so they were both there. As she lifted her ear she realized that she had stuck to him a little with the blood. She wiped it away and pushed her now sticky hair behind her ear. She remembered the instructor yelling to check for major bleeding. It was obvious that he was bleeding, but she needed to find out from where. His shirt and jacket were tattered as well as his trousers. She simply tore each away in turn, leaving him in his pants.

The systematic approach should have been for her to start at his head and move down, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from a large abdominal wound on his left side. Blood oozed from it, and it looked deep. She tore through the cabinets now, looking for some sort of trauma dressing. She found a large sterile pad and pressed it to the wound. He groaned again. She moved to his head and ran her fingers along his scalp. She found another sticky spot and parted his hair to find another wound and pressed more gauze to it. She did this all over, looking for anything that was major. His groaning became more frequent and he started to move his hands to push her hands away when he felt pain. She glanced up to his face to find his eyelids fluttering. "Rose? He muttered, his voice hoarse.

"I'm here Doctor! There was an explosion and you…!"

He waved his hand in the air weakly to stop her. "Can't see… Can't hear," he croaked. Then he seemed to pass out again.

She went up to his face and gently opened his right eye. His eyelid was singed and his eye was very red and bloodshot. She panicked a little and ran to the drawers once again. She could hear the beeps and various noises of the TARDIS and knew it was trying to help, but it sounded different, almost desperate. She opened a drawer filled with small bottles, none of which were labeled in English. One of the bottles started to glow. It had a picture of an eye and flame on it and a little eye dropper in it. "Well I guess this is the one." She squeezed it into her palm, willing it to work. She gingerly opened his right eye and used the dropper to drop two drops of the green liquid in. He blinked repeatedly but didn't cry out. She repeated this in the other eye.

It was no surprise that he couldn't hear. She wasn't in the direct path of the blast but her ears still rung painfully. She could only imagine what his were going through. She headed back to the drawers to root around. A similar thing happened. A small bottle of now blue liquid glowed. This one had a picture of an ear and two drops on it. She assumed it meant to put two drops in each ear. Again she approached his head and gently turned it to the side. His ear looked ok; she figured it was damage from the concussion of the blast. She dropped two drops in it, and then turned his head to repeat it in his other ear.

She then made a bowl of warm water and soap provided by the TARDIS. She took to cleaning him up, using a wash rag and repeatedly dipping it into the soapy water, cleaning and wringing it out. He was mostly quiet during this. He was covered in little cuts in addition to his big gashes. Most of the little ones were already starting to heal. She took it to mean that his "superior physiology" was kicking in. She moved down to his legs and noticed that they felt much colder than the rest of his body. That seemed funny but they seemed largely intact and cleaned up easily.

Suddenly she remembered something. The dermal regenerator! She had forgotten about the little devise until now. She dug around for it and, retrieving it from the top drawer, lifted the now soaked dressing on his abdomen and aimed the little machine at the wound. It closed up nicely and she felt a little stupid for not thinking of it earlier. She repeated with all his other major wounds, leaving the little ones as they were already looking much better. Lastly she found a nice warm blanket in a cabinet and tucked him in. He sighed and seemed to relax a bit with this.

Exhaustion hit her like a freight train. Usually it crept up on her, but this was sudden and extreme. She waivered a little on her feet and grabbed for the wheeled chair that was next to the gurney and slumped into it. She pushed with her feet until she was against the gurney again and rested her elbows on the bit of bed along the edge, head in her hands. She was able to steady herself a bit but still felt dizzy; the room was swimming a bit too. Finally she rested her head on his legs, putting her legs on the base of the gurney so she wouldn't roll away. _How long have I been in here? _She thought. Sleep came quickly then.


	5. Chapter 5

It took a moment for Rose to remember where she was. She had been woken by someone brushing her hair behind her ear. It was then that she remembered falling asleep at the Doctor's bedside in the med-bay. She lifted her head slowly, taking note that it was still pounding, so that she could get a good look at him. He was paler then anyone she had ever seen before, which was not good sign; she did live in London after all. His eyes were sunken slightly but they held her gaze. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Yours or mine?" he croaked as if he hadn't even heard her question.

"What?" He motioned for her to look down at herself, before then she hadn't realized that she was covered in blood. "Oh, yours mostly I think. You got a bit more banged up then I did."

He was still looking at her with a grave look on his face.

"Can you see alright? Before you said you couldn't." She leaned in a bit closer.

"Yeah, you're a bit blurry, but my eyes seem like they are coming along OK." His statement struck Rose as a bit odd. "You should go and get cleaned up a bit." He was eyeing her again.

"Doctor, I don't really want to leave you just yet."

"No go, you deserve it. Plus I'm not going anywhere." Another odd statement from him.

"I don't know," she started but then he shot her a look that said that there was no arguing with him on the subject. "Okay fine, but if you need anything, and I mean anything, you call me."

"I promise, now go wash up, you smell strongly of iron." he said with a wink and a weak smile.

As Rose walked to her room she felt numb, and extremely exhausted. All the events of the day had come together in her mind and she felt almost suffocated by them. It occurred to her then that she wasn't even sure how much time had passed since the explosion. She quickly pulled out her mobile from her pocket, much to her surprise it still worked. _Must be some super phone perk,_ she thought to herself as she turned it on so that she could check the time. It had been fifteen hours since the explosion itself, meaning that it had been nearly thirty-six hours since she had last slept properly. _Well I guess that explains the exhaustion,_ she thought as she opened her bedroom door.

The shower felt nice at first, as though her horrible day was being washed down the drain, it was rather calming to her overstressed nerves. Sadly though, that did not last long. Rose got to thinking about how bad the Doctor had looked. She had never seen him look so vulnerable, so damaged. For once he actually needed her more then she needed him. This thought sent a shiver down her spine and tears to her eyes. She hadn't realized how serious this situation could be until now. She glanced down at the floor of the shower. The water swirling down the drain was crimson. It was the Doctor's blood. She rubbed her fingers through her hair frantically to get all of it out and didn't stop until the water was clear. Panic had set in. She had to get out, now. She turned off the shower, grabbed for her towel, dried off as quickly as possible, grabbed the clothes that were closest to her, threw them on and sprinted out of TARDIS. The cold outside air hit her like a brick, but did its job, and she began to calm down. She breathed in the cool air deeply. When she had relaxed to the point that she could start moving again, she looked around to see where she was. "So we must have made it to that planet the Doctor was talking about then." she mumbled to herself. A strange cry came from inside the TARDIS then, bringing Rose back to real life. "What the," was all she got out before another cry could be heard, this one sounded frighteningly like her name. "Doctor!" she shouted before running back into the TARDIS, leaving the doors wide open.

In the shadows a small orange ember could be seen. A moment later the ember was seen falling to the ground then stomped out by an old trainer. The figure that wore the trainer stepped into the light. He was tall and thuggish with a curious look on his face. After a few moments he started making his way towards the strange blue box that he had seen a girl disappear into, a crooked smile formed on his lips.

Rose rushed to the med-bay. "What's wrong? Are you ok?"

He widened his eyes at her hasty arrival. "I'm ok; I'm just really thirsty and a little hungry." His voice was still quite hoarse.

She sat him up a little by elevating the head of the bed and went to the sink and grabbed a little cup and half filled it with water. "Just take a sip for now OK?" She elevated the cup to his lips and gave him a little sip. He sighed and rested his head again."

"Thanks." He lifted his head again to get another drink. She let him slowly finish the little cup.

"Now, what are you hungry for?"

"Anything really, just something not complicated. " He had closed his eyes again and was resting his head.

"I'll be right back." She hustled down to the galley and stood for a second, at a loss as to what to fix. She opted to just open all the cabinets until something spoke to her. She finally found a packet of banana custard that would cook up pretty quick. She also found a bit of electrolyte drink and put it all on a tray and headed back in.

He was sleeping again when she entered, and she nudged him on the leg but got no response. She set down the tray and gently shook his shoulder. He slowly opened his eyes. He wore a very serious face, unlike the smile he usually greeted her with. "Soup's on!" she chirped cheerfully. She could see a smile begin to tug at his lips, but it didn't quite materialize.

She sat him up a little more and could tell that it caused him a lot of pain. She gave him a few moments to recover before spooning a little of the custard into his mouth. "Mmm" he hummed a little at the first bite. She continued to feed him for a little bit more. He only took about 5 mouthfuls before he raised his hand indicating he was full. She switched to the electrolyte drink and had to encourage him to sip it.

He finally settled back and sighed. She went to go have a seat on the bed, figuring that since his legs weren't injured she could perch up there for a while. She patted his legs again but she still didn't get a response. "Doctor?" He opened his eyes again and looked at her. "Do you think you can move your legs a bit?"

"No." it wasn't a harsh answer, but seemed rather a statement of fact.

"What d'ya mean?"

"Well I can't feel my legs, just that, obviously I can't move them either. I must have sustained a spinal injury in the blast. We'll have to do a scan to be sure. "

He had her maneuver the scanner that looked like giant camera to the top of his head. She pushed the red button and the scanner moved on its own down the length of his body. It beeped when it was finished. He had her pull the monitor over to him. "Can you fetch me my glasses?"

She had completely forgotten his suit jacket and clothes piled in a heap of torn fabric in the corner.

"Um, they may not have survived the blast, everything was really torn up."

"Including me!" he said with a wink, "Give it a try, you may be surprised. " She headed over to the corner and looked down on what looked just like a pile of singed rags and found the remnants of his suit jacket. She found a side pocket and plunged in a hand, fishing around. Her hand landed on something cool and cylindrical, she smiled.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, pulling out the sonic screwdriver and giving it a onceover. She tossed it to him and he played with it briefly, making buzzing noises of several pitches. Her hand was still in the pocket and finally she was able to find the glasses and bring them to him. He tossed her the sonic and she placed it on the counter.

"Now, let's see… " he pushed his glasses into place, "mild concussion, okay, bruised ribs, abdominal wound that is coming along nicely," he stopped and gave her a thankful smile," and oh there it is!" He pointed to a magnified image on the scanner. There see that? I have a fracture to the thoracic vertebra number 10 with associated complete injury to the spinal cord. " Rose gave him a confused look. "My spinal cord is severed Rose."


	6. Chapter 6

She could feel her panic rising again. "You mean you are PARALIZED?"

"Yup."

"Seriously? How long were you going to wait to tell me?"

"I really didn't want to alarm you…"

"How can you possibly be so calm about this?" she raised her voice a little too loud.

He winced a little at her. "My hearing is all better by the way."

"Sorry." She whispered, looking at her feet. "Is it really bad? I mean the fracture and the spinal cord."

"By human standards yes, it would be debilitating. Not so much for me. The bone has already started to mend; we just need to fix the spinal cord.

"Is that why your legs felt colder than your body?"

He reached out and took her hand and smiled. "Yes, it has to deal with dilated blood vessels and blood cooling after that. You did a good thing keeping me warm. But it really isn't a big deal Rose, remember where we are. "

"So there is a cure then?" she eyed him hopefully.

"Yes there is, but it's quite severe. The treatments can cause violent reactions. It's called Neuro-grow. It actually helps the nerve endings re-connect. It's pretty impressive."

"How long does it take?'

"Oh well…" he paused, now rubbing his neck," it's about 15 hours. Then I imagine I will be a bit weak for a while. You need to know that I trust you implicitly. I'm sorry, but you will have to manage this Rose. It's really complex and has to be given exactly on time or it won't work. "

"And you would stay paralyzed?" her thumb had migrated to her mouth, where she chewed on her nail.

"Yes," he answered quietly, "but that is not going to happen. Because you are in charge and it is going to go fantastically. You'll see." He gave her a smile and little squeeze on the hand. She smiled back in turn. He stiffened a little, took a deep breath and said, "Onward! Rose, go to the top right cabinet and you'll find the big yellow box of Neuro-grow."

She retrieved the box and turned it over in her hands. It was about 1 foot square and very heavy duty looking. The writing on it was all in Gallifreyan. She had hoped to be more of a help, but the TARDIS didn't translate Gallifreyan. She handed him the box with a sigh. He took the box and set it on his lap, reached for both her hands and pulled her close until they were just inches apart. He looked deeply into her eyes and she felt a shiver go down her spine. "I can't emphasize how important this is you have to follow the directions to the letter. Any deviation could have grave consequences. It could even kill me before regeneration. You will have to administer the medication, at least the first few doses, with a shot and manage me until I can manage myself." She nodded enthusiastically not breaking eye contact. "Good!" he exclaimed smiling brightly. She jumped back a bit with this new outburst. She settled on the rolling chair next to the gurney and rolled herself up next to him.

The Doctor flipped up the latches on the yellow box and opened it. Inside there was a line of syringes. The first two were very big and bright red and the liquid inside looked purple. The remaining 3 syringes were smaller, with smaller doses of yellow fluid. There was a small laminated pamphlet tucked behind the shots. He pulled it out and opened it with a flourish and a grin, which made her giggle, albeit nervously. "Let's see here," he started. "The first two doses are the big ones and they each last for 6 hours before the next dose. The following 3 are spaced an hour apart."

Rose pushed her chair over to the counter and retrieved a pad of paper and pen. "Hold up, let me get all this down in English." She said scratching furiously on the pad with the pen.

The Doctor continued," Ok, now… the first two shots should be given in the …ah…gluteal muscle." She didn't react and was concentrating, so he continued. "After each of the first two doses we wait for 6 hours, like I said, then we start the smaller doses, which can be given in the deltoid muscle in the upper arm. They are 1 hour apart." He heard her repeating each instruction under her breath as she wrote. "The shots must be giving exactly on time. Missing them even by a minute would halt the process and not allow any further growing. Too early would cause an overdose. Ok now on to side effects. The first two doses can cause the most severe effects; including seizures, severe muscle spasms, severe pain, vomiting, nausea and chills. The other three doses have less serious side effects, mostly some spasms and maybe nausea. It's also important that I not go in swimming for at least 20 minutes or I may get a cramp…" He shot her an impish grin.

She was still writing feverishly then paused. "Wait what?" She caught his grin and realized what he said and smiled back, blushed a bit and laughed.

"Rose this will not be easy." He looked directly into her eyes again. "The worst part is that you will be on your own with this. I won't be able to help you. Are you sure you want to do this?" His eyes were deep brown and had an air of sadness.

She swallowed and reached for him, hand resting on his shoulder. " Are you kidding me? Of course I'll do this. I'm here for you no matter what. Of course you may need to cook me dinner when this is all over." She beamed at him and he chuckled. Her nervousness was apparent though; she kept playing with her hair and shifting back and forth.

"Shall we begin?" he asked, she nodded. "Ok take the box over and put it on the counter. The TARDIS should have a timer there too. Ah, I see it. Ok set the timer but don't start it. We'll give the shot, and then you can push start. OK?"

"Ok…" She did as she was told and readied the first syringe. She had friends that had been to nursing school and she had watched them practice with dummy syringes and saline solution. She approached him again and his eyes widened at the sight of the needle.

"Now raise the railing on this side." He indicated the rail on the opposite side of the bed. I'll have to be rolled up on my side so you can give the shot…just above my bum. "

"Um ok."

She set the syringe back down on the counter, walked around the gurney and pulled up on the railing until it locked in place. She then walked back around to the other side. He reached his opposite hand over and grabbed the metal bar. She stood next to the bed and gently pushed up on his bum and legs helping him rotate and rest on his side. He obviously strained with effort and pain, but seemed to settle down once he got into place. She went and got the syringe again and an alcohol swab from the drawer.

She noticed again the TARDIS had been very quiet this whole time. There usually were hums and various other noises, as well as lights flickering. "Doctor, anything else I should know before we start?

"Like what?"

"Like, what happens with the TARDIS during all this?"

"Well I was able to land us just before the blast, so we should be safe. But I'll be honest; the TARDIS is injured just like me. She will need a lot of work, but I can feel that she is still functioning to some level. She was able to concentrate on me in here. I don't know what will happen if I am unconscious again. Just stay close to me and don't count on much out of her for the time being ok?"

"Ok" she shivered a little, as she had just realized that she was going to be alone, very alone, for quite some time and that scared her. She wasn't used to him not being able to charge ahead and face the opponent. This was new. Sure she could fight and run and hold her own, but this was new territory entirely. He was usually just around the corner or fighting his own battles, to return to her at the end. Now she wasn't sure if he could be there at all. He had taught her to fight but not like this. She was suddenly glad the he could not see her face. She was unable to put on a confident mask right now.

"I'm ready" he called over his shoulder, breaking her out of her thoughts.

He wrapped his arm around to his back and pointed to a muscle above his bum. "Put it right here. And Rose… I'll see you on the other side."

"Not if I see you first!"

She quickly swiped the alcohol pad over the muscle and plunged in the needle before she could have second thoughts. The medicine must have been thick, because it was hard to inject. The process took about 3 minutes to put all the way in. His hands tensed up on the railing and his breathing became labored, but he didn't make any noises. The medicine must have been horribly painful going in. When she finished she pulled out the needle and quickly ran to the counter and pushed the button on the timer.

She rolled him back onto his back and noticed his eyes were half closed. He tried to smile and opened his mouth to say something. Just then he was gripped by a horrific muscle spasm. He arched his back and let out a wail unlike anything she had ever heard. She held onto him feeling entirely useless. Tears flowed freely from her eyes. He settled down for a second, and she took a tentative breath. He then started to have a seizure. He convulsed violently and she had to quickly stuff a pillow against the railing of the bed because he was repeatedly hitting it so hard with his arm. His jaw was clenched, but she could hear him drawing ragged breaths. White foam formed in the corners of his mouth. His eyes were rolled back and his head bobbed rhythmically. She had never seen anything like this before and she found herself just standing there staring, transfixed, not moving but close enough that she kept him from falling off the unguarded side of the gurney. The seizure lasted just a couple of minutes, but it felt like an hour. He finally relaxed. She pulled up the railing on her side, went a got a wet rag and cleaned him up. He had vomited a little in the process too so she wiped him down, whispering "It's going to be alright," and various other assurances all the while wondering if she was lying.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Rose stayed by his side, hovering over him for hours. She nervously flitted around the room, straightening his blankets and cleaning up just anything to keep busy. After what seemed like eternity he stirred. She raced to his side and put her hand on his chest.

"Hi," she said when his eyes rested on her.

"Hello." He gave her another weak smile. His voice was still rough.

"What now?" she really didn't know what to do now. She knew he needed help but she was at a loss about what should come next.

"I just need to sleep, as much as possible between now and the next shot. What do I have, about 1 more hour?

"Yes," she held up the timer to show him. "Doctor, why is the TARDIS making so many noises? I keep hearing alarms and bells, but they are pretty quiet though."

"She's hurting, probably from the explosion. She can feel me hurting too. I imagine the alarms are quiet because she can't get them in all the rooms yet. I haven't heard the big bad noises yet, I think she is hanging on for now. She'll heal just like me then later I can go and assess all the damage. I can tell she's mechanically stable for now. I don't know though…" He took a deep breath through his nose.

He glanced around the room. "Maybe you can move me to my bed? I would be so much more comfortable." Rose just looked at him wide eyed. He wasn't sure if the fear of more reactions to the medicine or just the fear of moving him scared her the most. "Really, Rose, I'm alright to move. The bone has mended, like I said, and is pretty stable. This bed has wheels; you can just bring me in there. It should be fine."

"But the shot I gave you… you reacted so badly to it. You had a seizure; what if all that happens again?"

"The reactions will lessen each time, especially when we move to the little shots." He took her hand in his, tracing his finger along all her new little abrasions. "It'll be alright, I promise."

"What the hell is this?" the intruder looked around the coral filled room. He stepped back outside the door and looked around, ran outside, ran around the box then back through the door. The machine in the middle of the room was making odd noises, almost like alarms. There was heavy smoke all around. It looked like there may have been an explosion there. Some things were charred, and there was a pool of blood near the middle of the room.

He poked around a little, wondering where the girl had gone. He saw a hallway that looked pretty clear and headed in. He could hear voices and ducked into a room that maybe looked like a kitchen of sorts. He quietly opened cabinets and the refrigerator until he found food and stood munching while looking around. Some of the cabinets were hard to open or did not open at all. It was weird because they didn't have locks. He heard more alarms too, but saw no speakers. He hadn't had good food in a while so he grabbed anything that looked good, including stuffing several things in his pockets for later. The voices seemed to be getting louder and people were moving things about so he stood behind the door very quietly, peering through a crack into the hallway.

Rose moved the rolling chair and the various trays around out of the way and unlocked the wheels of the gurney. She tucked the Doctor's drink next to him made sure he had his sonic and gently steered him towards the door. She had actually only been in his room once or twice. She figured it was his place to get away. She wheeled him down the hall and to his door. Luckily the doorway was wide enough, or maybe the TARDIS helped a little, but anyway she was able to get the bed in with only a few minor bumps. She could see the Doctor tense up with each one, but was grateful that they didn't seem to cause him much pain.

She rolled the gurney next to his bed and manually lowered it. Then she took down the covers off the bed. She lowered his head until he was flat again. He didn't like this part and let out a series of groans and one or two sharp yelps. Lastly she lowered the side rails, pulled the gurney close, then walked around and climbed on his bed. She simply pulled the sheet off the gurney with him on it and dragged him and the sheet onto his bed. The operation left them both exhausted. He was still in just his pants and no shirt, so she went to his wardrobe and pulled out an undershirt and pyjama pants. He was able to mostly pull on his shirt and she slid him into his pants, blushing as she pulled them up. She tucked him in as best she could, propping him up again and handing him the drink with instructions to sip more. She glanced at the timer. She only had about 10 minutes to prepare the next shot.

She ran to the med-bay. When she was in the hallway she could have sworn she heard something fall in the galley, but dismissed it, she had to give that shot on time no matter what. She grabbed an alcohol wipe and a plaster and carefully carried it all into his room.

He was drinking when she entered and she couldn't help but smile at him, and he mirrored her. It seemed as the color was returning to his face a bit. "Time for you medicine!" she said, holding up the shot. His face fell somewhat.

"Way to kill the mood, Rose."

She hopped on the bed and rolled him on his side again, wiped the skin and said, "Are you ready?"

"No but yes," his voice was low.

She administered the shot. It seemed a little thinner than last time, and went in a little faster. She rolled him back and stared at him. His eyes were open just staring back. The suspense was building as they waited for the inevitable.

He suddenly arched his back and let out a high pitched scream. Then he balled himself into the fetal position and screamed again. Rose jumped back like he was on fire. He shook heavily but only for a moment or too. Then he relaxed. Rose finally breathed again.

She paced the room after he calmed. She was so tired that her feet dragged on the floor. Sleep was far away though; it was the last thing on her mind. She worried over the TARDIS and if there was anything else that could go wrong before the Doctor was better. She knew that even injured, the TARDIS would do her best to keep them safe. She also pondered her situation with the Doctor. What if something went wrong and he didn't recover? Would he have to regenerate to fix himself? He certainly couldn't go about saving the universe if he couldn't run. This thought truly scared her. She shook her head to get it away.

She had started the timer for 6 hours right after she gave the shot, after he was still. She now set the alarm on her phone for ten minutes before the next shot was due in case she got busy. She wanted time to prepare for it.

After pacing for a long time she figured she should maybe go into the hallway to walk off her anxiety. She would still be close to him but wouldn't wear a hole in the floor. She was heading towards the door when she heard a faint and sleepy "Rose…" She turned around to see that the Doctor was awake and looking at her.

"Hi, I didn't think that you would wake up so soon."

"I heard you getting ready to leave; I'm not so sure you should just yet. What if I need you?"

"I was just going into the hall, but I can stay close if you want. You go back to sleep, I won't go anywhere, I promise." She walked back towards him. "Come on, just rest, you are going to need it."

"How long has it been since you have slept?" he asked, ignoring her last request.

"That doesn't matter; you are the one that needs to get better right now."

"No, just come lay down for a while, you can get up in plenty of time to get my next shot."

"Doctor I…"

"Please Rose, I know you need it too, I can see it in your eyes."

She knew that there was no point in arguing with him, and she really was quite tired. She slowly made her way to his bed and lay down on top of the covers. By this time the Doctor was already fast asleep.

Roughly an hour passed before the Doctor was woken by a movement next to him. He opened his eyes to see that Rose was shivering slightly in her sleep. He nudged her lightly and her eyes flew open, in fear that something had happened. "It's okay Rose, you just looked cold. Why don't you come under the covers, there is plenty of room." Normally she would have argued with the Doctor about being that close to him but she was too tired and slipped under the covers.


	8. Chapter 8

Rose was more comfortable than she had been in what seemed like ages. She was warm, and she had her arms wrapped around something cool. She was dreaming about being home, warm in her own bed. She was jarred awake suddenly by the noise from her mobile phone alarm. Then came the shock of realizing that in her sleep she had cuddled up next to the Doctor. The cool thing she was holding was HIM! She jerked her arms back and slid out of bed as fast as possible, silencing the mobile clumsily. She was horrified to think that she may wake him and he would figure out what happened. He didn't seem to have moved at all, let alone waking up. She blew out a little breath of relief.

She had slept surprisingly well considering the situation. It was nice having somebody next to her but she was careful to keep her distance initially. It was positively mortifying to think of how she ended up, all cuddled up to him. She glanced at him again. He had a very slight smile on his face. Perhaps he was dreaming of something good too? She padded out of the room.

In the med-bay she prepared the next shot. It was smaller than the two others and she hoped it would have less side effects. She thought that this time it would be smart to take the box and bring it with her, in case they moved again. Maybe after a while he would want to be in the library or something. She gathered the rest of the supplies to administer the shot and headed out. She turned the corner and stepped into the hall, and was face to face with a strange man. There was a second of confusion for both of them, and then Rose let out a scream. The man turned and ran and Rose shot into the Doctor's room.

The Doctor obviously heard her scream and was wildly thrashing his arms in bed trying to maneuver himself to see her. He was calling, "Rose! What's happening? Rose!"

She ran in, shut and locked the door. "Doctor there is someone in the TARDIS! A man!"

Well, he found the girl. He had planned to be more smooth when he saw her again, but now there was someone else in the picture. He ran down the corridor it seemed to have twists and turns than he remembered. A door appeared to his right and he ripped it open and ran in and fell straight into a pool.

Rose was out of breath and ran over to the Doctor. He was sputtering , "What, where, who is here?"

"I don't know who he is."

"How did he get in here?"

Rose shook her head. "I have no idea. I went outside for just a moment after I took my shower. I needed to…" the Doctor was looking at her intently. "Umm, I needed to breathe. " She slapped her hand on her forehead. "I must have left the door open when I ran back in. I'm sorry." She started to cry.

He reached out and pulled her close. It was easy to tell that just the man in the TARDIS would not cause her to cry like this. But everything, him, the exhaustion, pain, all these caused her to finally break.

She pushed away from him suddenly and angrily wiped her eyes. "This is stupid. We need to fight."

He nodded, a little shocked at her response. He thought for a moment. "Our only real defense right now is that he is most likely lost. Maybe the TARDIS will be able to keep him confused long enough to give us a chance. Rose, I need to get to the console room to assess the damage. I have an idea of how we can stop him and get him out of here. We can't fight him without the TARDIS though. If she is not working we don't have a chance. He could be anywhere doing anything. Aaarg! This is so frustrating." He ran his fingers though his hair in exasperation.

The moment was interrupted by the beeping of the timer. They just looked at each other both sighing deeply. It was time for another shot. It could not possibly come at a worse time. He sunk back into the pillows a bit.

Rose looked away. The reality of the situation weighted heavy on them both. They needed to fight for the TARDIS but he couldn't. And even worse, she was about to put him even more out of commission.

"Just give it." He sounded defeated.

"Yeah, right… Let's go then!" she faked a smile, advancing to the bed with the shot. She could read his expression. He knew she was trying to keep his spirits up. It made him even angrier at the situation.

"You can give this one in my arm, it's smaller."

"Great!" she squeaked.

"You don't have to do this, I mean be fake happy. It's not like we both don't know how bad this really is."

She froze, looking at him, but he has since looked away. He wasn't usually this honest with her. He had a wonderful way of deflecting when things got bad. There were times when she had no idea that they were in horrible peril until after it was all over.

Rose took a step closer and when he didn't move at all she came right up next to the bed, set the supplies next to him, prepped his arm and gave the shot. It was very different from the other two. It went in like water. She stepped back and held her breath. He hadn't looked back at her. His legs began to twitch and then his whole body spasmed. He clenched his teeth so hard she thought they may break and she could hear him drawing rasping breaths through them. After a minute or two he relaxed and his breathing returned to normal.

She sat by the bed for a few moments, but couldn't sit still. She began pacing again. After about 5 minutes she could feel his eyes on her. She stopped and turned to him.

"I need to get to the console room." was all he said.

"How do you expect me to get you in there? I can't carry you, and the gurney will be near impossible to get up to the console."

"Erm.." he paused," There is that wheelie chair in the med-bay. You can get that and just wheel me in."

"How are we going to keep you in it?"

"Improvise. I trust you. I don't suppose I need to tell you to be careful getting it though. Hopefully the TARDIS will be able to get the door close. "

"What about you?"

"Well we can't lock the door or you won't be able to get back in. Even with the sonic it may not work with the TARDIS struggling. It may be safer if we just leave the door unlocked and I just sink into the bed and pretend to be a pillow. I am getting rather good at being inanimate." He gave her a grin but there was no happiness behind it. He still had anger and maybe a touch of fright in his eyes. She certainly shared in his fear. Neither of them was willing to admit it though.

Rose covered up the Doctor with the blankets then tossed a bunch more pillows on the bed as camouflage. She tapped him lightly on what she assumed was his head. That part of the lump bobbed and whispered "Good luck."

She opened the door and peeked out. The corridor was mercifully empty. She crept out and scampered down the hall to a familiar door that she prayed was the med-bay. She ripped the door open hoping that if there was anyone in there she would take them by surprise. The room was empty. With a sigh of relief she ran in. She figured that it was more than likely that when she got him in the chair he would not be able to sit on his own without support, though she hadn't tested him out in anything other than a reclining position yet. After rooting around in the drawers she came up with a big roll of two inch wide tape. Grabbing the chair in one hand and the tape in the other she bolted back to his room locking the door again.

"Shall we?" she said, approaching him. She didn't wait for an answer; instead she pulled all the blankets off the bed. He was on his back and looked a little awkward. Taking care not to move too quickly or forcefully she maneuvered him until he was lying straight on the bed. It was hard because he groaned with each push. He was obviously trying to hide his pain. As time went on he was getting less and less effective at it. Next she went and got on the chair and released the lever, lowering it to about the level of the bed.

"Um do you need a minute?" Rose was watching the Doctor. He was just lying there taking deep breaths. His eyes were closed.

"Yes but we don't have time for that. Let's go." He answered, eyes still shut. He seemed distracted.

"So I figure we can just sit you up and drag you onto the chair and well, I have this tape and … we will secure you with it. "

"You are going to tape me to the chair?" He had opened his eyes and had turned his head to look at her. His voice had taken a decided edge. She suddenly had second thoughts about the tape. "Fine." He said and closed his eyes again.

She went to work first rotating his body in the bed until his head was at the side nearest the chair. She then stood at the edge of the bed and hauled him up into a sitting position. He let out a loud yell and she stopped in her tracks. "Did I do something wrong? I'm so sorry."

"No" he said through gritted teeth. "My back still is really painful and now of course all my muscles have joined in too. Just give me a moment." He was sitting up, but not on his own. He leaned heavily against her and had his arms were out to both sides as well. His hands were in fists, grabbing the sheets hard with white knuckles. "Um, well I have a little news." His words were clipped.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. If you move I won't be able to hold myself up." There was now a strange sound to his voice. Was it shaking a little? Rose was suddenly grateful that she was not face to face with him, as he may not want her to see him like this. She put her hand on his shoulder but he shrugged it off. "We need to get going, now." This time his voice was decidedly more gruff.

"Doctor if you hurt we should-"

"No!" he interrupted, "Just do it I'll be ok. Would you stop treating me like a child?" This came out with obvious anger.

She felt the redness rise in her cheeks. She had seen this before, with relatives in nursing homes. Their frustration of not being able to help themselves sometimes translated into anger. It usually was aimed at the nearest person whether or not that person was causing the problem. He was never the one who needed help; this must be really difficult for him. It was only a matter of time before he blew his top. Unfortunately this was not a great time to have anger issues.


	9. Chapter 9

"Can we just go?" His voice was still raised and he was staring straight ahead. She could only imagine his face: intense, oncoming storm glare in full power.

"Sure." Rose answered flatly. She knew that it was bad to be mad at him but she was walking a fine line between exhaustion and fear too. She had her fair share of pain as well. She was sure that she had a beautiful array of cuts and bruises from the blast too but hadn't had time to fully assess herself.

Without a word Rose leaned him forward. He seemed to pick up on what she was doing and he grabbed the back of his knees to secure himself. She left his side and pushed the chair into place where she had been. She then reached out, wrapped her arms around his chest and heaved back him onto the chair. He let out another yelp but this time she didn't react. Next she took out the tape, holding him in place with her other hand. She stuck the tape to the back of the chair and simply wrapped it around his upper body and the chair. The Doctor's legs were still on the bed, so Rose pulled the chair back until just his feet rested on the edge. She then came around, bent each leg in turn and put each foot on top of a chair leg that covered a wheel, taping each in place. The Neuro-grow box was on the bedside table and she plopped it on his lap. She then grabbed his sonic from the bed and held it out to him. He grabbed it but did not meet her eyes.

Pushing him out of the room and into the hall was not easy. The chair wanted to swivel and that was causing more pain. He just kept breathing slowly and deeply she could see the sweat forming on his neck. She finally stopped and stuck a bunch of tape above the base of the chair to keep it from turning. She noticed him rubbing his legs, face screwed up in pain.

"What's the matter?" She tried to keep her tone conversational.

"They are burning and itching now." He answered with no emotion. He just kept rubbing them as if he was willing them to stop.

"That's good ya? It's sensation right?"

"I suppose it's a sign. I don't know if it is good or bad."

"I'm going to go with good." At that moment Rose decided not to allow his anger to affect her. She had no room in her brain for it right now.

He mumbled something, head down.

"What?"

"I'm sorry." It was barely above a whisper, and he didn't raise his head.

"For?"

"Yelling at you. I know you are doing your best. This is just really bad. I feel so helpless. It's not supposed to be like this. And now with this guy here…" He slowly lifted his head and looked at her. She squatted in front of him and took his hands.

"I told you I was here for you. I'm just paying you back for all the times you've saved me. I still have a lot of paying back to do. "

He gave her a sheepish grin. "You're paid in full."

When she got to the console room she peeked in and found it to be empty. There was a lingering smell of acrid smoke and it still was a bit hazy. She hadn't been able to see at all when she was in there last. They both coughed a little at first and Rose pulled her shirt up over her mouth to try to avoid the smell. Getting the Doctor up into the console room was tricky. She ended up pulling him from behind up the ramps. When she finally got him up to the console he placed the big yellow box on it and immediately started flipping switches and turning knobs. Rose heard a fan activate and shortly thereafter the smoke started to lift. He looked up at her hopefully. "I'm going to need you to gather a few things for me. I'll make you a detailed list but you'll have to move about in the TARDIS to various places to get them. I think I can figure out where he is I can direct you, but you still have to be very careful. We still don't know what he wants or what he is doing. I'll give you a communicator, wait… I've got one…" He pulled a square radio looking device from somewhere on the console and handed it to her.

"I really hope he just gets lost or falls of a cliff or something."

He gave her a bemused look. Rose grinned and clipped the communicator to her pants. "How is she? I mean the TARDIS. Can you fix her?"

He was madly flipping switches and grabbing onto the side and pulling himself to different places on the console. "We'll see. I'm running some diagnostics now. Oh yeah, hold on a minute." He pulled out some paper and began to write his instructions down. After a minute and some furious scratching he handed it to her. "Ok here you go. It looks like he is not in this area right now." He had rolled himself over to the monitor and was pointing at an image. "I think you are safe for now, but listen carefully for me. OK?"

"OK" she answered, taking the paper from him and glancing at it.

"Testing one, two, three!" The words came from the communicator. The Doctor was speaking into his own communicator. She smiled, grabbed the little box and pressed the button to talk.

"Loud and clear!"

"You have the medicine timer? " He looked at her directly.

"Yes"

"Ok let me synchronize it to my timer here so I can give myself the next shot. There, all set. Hey, Rose? "

"Hm?"

"Let's take back our ship." he said with a smile.


	10. Chapter 10

Rose headed off to collect the things for the Doctor. Meanwhile he had grown quite adept at flinging himself in the chair around the console, checking this, disconnecting that, removing burned pieces. Surprisingly the console was not as bad as he had expected. She must have tried to defend herself from the blast, meaning she was able to detect it before the Doctor. It's possible the TARDIS may have been able to put up a force field once the explosive was detected. It wouldn't have surprised him at all. It was a living ship and any living thing's first action is to save itself. He kept a wary eye on the monitor at all times. Keeping tabs on Rose and on the intruder. They were far enough apart at this moment that he felt confident that she could acquire what he needed.

He had forged a plan too; one that would allow them to capture the intruder without injuring him. Like a no-kill mouse trap of sorts. He had been contemplating the intruder for a while even in his sleep. He supposed that the man had wandered in, since he had not confronted them yet and asked for anything. He could have already done great damage though. The Doctor hoped that the TARDIS had been able to keep him out of critical areas. While he had been tinkering away on the console, he had been working out the specifics of the device in another part of his brain.

Repairs were coming along swiftly, that is until he realized that major work needed to be completed under the console. This could be strenuous even when he could move normally. He blew out a frustrated breath. He assembled his tools and tossed them onto the floor. He had been working to ignore the pain in his lower body but he noticed an annoying twitch beginning in his upper legs. "_Great." _he thought. The last thing he needed was more muscle spasms. He surveyed his setup on the floor and with a deep breath slowly began to rip off the tape from the chair wheels. He set each foot on the floor then began to peel the tape off from around his body. He kept one hand securely on the console for stability. His body started to sag when his abdomen was free of tape and the chair started to roll due to his shifting weight. He had a moment of panic, knowing he was about to fall, but opted for the proactive approach and flung himself down with a crash.

"Oof!" he landed mostly on his stomach. Pain surged through his legs and abdomen. He laid there breathing heavily for a minute. Pain had to be a good sign right? He pushed his fingers through the holes in the grating and dragged himself towards his destination. Slowly he made his way, his legs occasionally shaking or spasming. Ignoring them was getting increasingly difficult. Finally, with great effort he pulled himself into place and got to work.

The Doctor had managed to pull himself into a relatively good spot under the console. He was even able to rummage around and find some pieces he needed to make the device he was going to use on the intruder. He had been making great strides in his repair work too when," Beep Beep!...Beep Beep!" It took few seconds to register what the noise was, but then he realized that he had completely lost track of time and he needed to inject himself again.

"Doctor? Doctor? It's time for your shot!" Rose's voice rang out of the communicator. "Are you there?"

Dragging himself out required some odd and painful moves on his part, folding himself in awkward positions to be able to get handholds. Anyone observing would have been alarmed to hear the ruckus he caused. There were yelps of pain as well as crashing of various instruments. Finally he was able to get a hand on the console and felt around for the communicator. "I'm here, I'm getting the shot!"

"Do I need to come back? I'm almost done."

"No keep going."

"Hurry, you have thirty seconds."

He groaned and reached out his hand for the yellow box but fell just short. His legs were shaking again and it made it hard to get a good grip. He took a second or two to recover then lurched again for the box. This time however he sprung up and was able to grab it and pull it down next to him. Was it a well-placed muscle spasm the afforded the extra push? He didn't allow himself the time to contemplate as he opened the box, prepped the shot and jammed it into his upper arm on his opposite side. He let the used syringe fall to the floor as he braced for the oncoming reaction.

It was as if someone had dipped the lower half of his body in molten lava. He even looked down to check to see if he was physically on fire. The burning sensation was excruciating. He cried out repeatedly in pain and anguish. He writhed around trying to catch his breath and happened to glance at the monitor. The red blinking icon that was Rose was getting alarmingly close to the blue blinking icon of the intruder.

"Rose," he gasped. The communicator had mercifully fallen down but it was at his feet and he was struggling to put the thoughts together to get it. Drawing ragged breaths he grunted and lunged again this time aiming to spin his body around. His abdominal muscles behaved somewhat and aided him in his uncoordinated yet effective technique.

"Rose!" he rasped, grabbing the communicator. "Go into the library! It should be…" he craned his neck to see the monitor, "On your left! LOCK THE DOOR!"

Rose had her hands full of things the Doctor needed. She was trying to juggle them and look around for the library door. Just then the man came around the corner.

"Hey!" he said. "What is this, where am I? Can you come here?"

Rose took a step back and found herself against a door. She fumbled to get a hand free and reached for the door knob. She felt a wash of relief as the door clicked and opened and she stumbled in. She dropped the stuff as carefully and quickly as she could and ran to shut the door. She could hear him calling to her. "Hey, I just want to talk! COME HERE!" His shadow crossed the doorway and she slammed the door, on his fingers. He let out a long yell followed by a string of curses. She opened the door a bit and he retracted his hand, screaming. She took the opportunity and slammed the door again and locked it.

The Doctor stared at his communicator. There was silence on the other end. He watched the monitor; eyes glued to her the red blinking Rose. It showed that she made it in, just as the blue blinking intruder got to the door. It looked like the lights were on top of each other for a moment then she was in the room and he ran down another hall. He blew out a sigh of relief and crumpled the remaining way back to the floor. The burning in his legs had subsided and now was an annoying tingle. He watched as his feet twitched up and down like they had a mind of their own. I marveled a bit on how he got in this particular position. Did his abdominal muscles really contract? He tried to duplicate this now with no results.

The communicator crackled to life. "Doctor, are you there? I'm safe in the library. What happened, did you get the shot? "

Just hearing her voice brought a smile to his face. "Hello. I'm alright. Yes, the intruder was near you but you should be safe now. He headed down another corridor so you can run back to me. "

She came back mirth obvious in her voice, "Aye aye cap'n. I'm on my way."

"Did you see him?"

"Yup and now he's not entirely happy with me. "


	11. Chapter 11

The Doctor reset the timer once more. There was one dose left. He had thought that perhaps he would be further along by now. He lay semi-sprawled on the floor watching his feet twitch. His legs still burned a bit, and his abdominal muscles contacted and relaxed without rhyme or reason. He marveled at this a little. He was in a unique situation. This was one of the very few times that he barely missed regeneration. If he had bled more and Rose had not been there to stop it, it would have happened for sure.

He rolled over on his stomach and pulled himself back up to the console. His legs were able to help him a little; mainly they seemed to squirm and therefore did not make for dead weight. He buried himself back under the console for a while then had to drag himself out again. He was satisfied about his progress with the TARDIS controls. There would be some parts to replace when they could get moving again, but a bit of creative piloting should allow him to work around the broken pieces for now.

Flopping on his belly again he went to work on the containment device. He was deep in thought and muttering to himself when he heard footsteps behind him. A feeling of dread sat deep in his stomach. It suddenly occurred to him just how vulnerable he was right now. He raised his head slowly. Familiar trainers came into view.

"Well hello there, you certainly look comfy." She had her arms laden with supplies.

"Oh good you're here. Is everything alright? What happened?"

Rose smiled; he seemed to have gotten over his funk. "Well, I saw him again, smashed his fingers in the library door and he ran away. I got everything you needed I think though. Can I help?" She made to set all the stuff on the console, but he gave her a look and then glanced to his workspace on the floor, wordlessly indicating that he couldn't stand to work at the console.

"Oh yeah, sure." she knelt down and placed the items within his reach. "So ahh, any progress?" she motioned to his legs.

"Um yeah, they burn like crazy and jump around, I have some sensation on and off but it is random as of now. But I have one shot left, so we'll see, fingers crossed." With that he went back to tinkering on a small box he had in his hand.

Rose sat on the jump seat, getting up to assist whenever something was out of reach. She loved watching him work. He kept up a never ending monolog that she jokingly referred to as verbal waterfall. She smiled to herself. Even though he was broken he was returning to the man she knew and loved. Now if that broken bit would start to work correctly again. She also kept a wary eye on the monitor. The intruder was stationary for now.

The man stared down at his hands, uttering a string of curses. That blonde girl had broken his fingers. He was beyond angry. All he wanted to do was talk to her maybe more, depending. Now that he was here though, maybe he could take a few souvenirs. There must be some things in here that others would be interested in, maybe some gold or gems to sell. There had to be weapons too. If he could figure out what was what, he could make a huge profit. The man she was with seemed sick or something, so he wasn't an issue.

He pulled on each of his injured fingers to straighten them, growling with each pull. He had new resolve now. He would make money from what he found here. He could take the blonde and remove her from the picture. He could even lock her up with the sick man. Maybe he could get his crew in here, take what they want and maybe have some fun in the process. The possibilities in this place were endless. He got to his feet and went to collect what he was due.

"He's moving again, Doctor." Rose now stood at the monitor. "He is moving in and out of rooms. What is he doing?"

"He's probably looking for things to steal, or weapons. None the less he needs to be stopped. The TARDIS is still very weak. She is having trouble keeping him out of all the rooms. She is trying to repair herself too. We need to get him out so she can concentrate. Alright, done!" He pushed a button on the box in his hand and tossed it at Rose's feet. She was enveloped in a red light that went several feet above her head. She looked alarmed and put her hands up to the red walls around her.

"Oh they sting!" she said jumping back a little. Her words were muffled somewhat. The Doctor pulled himself over on his belly to the little box and clicked it again. The red light went away.

"See? It's just containment. The beam stings a little if you touch it, and you can't get through it, but it is overall harmless. I have a feeling our intruder won't go down without a fight, and I really don't feel up to a fight, so this is the next best option. We can lift the box and basically pull him out the door nice and clean."

"BEEP BEEP! BEEP BEEP!"

"Here we go again." he frowned.

He could hear voices. One of them was muffled a bit. He peeked around the corner but could only see the blonde. He could hear the man but not see him. The blonde had some weird red light around her then it was gone. Then there was a loud beeping, and she got distracted with something. Now was his chance, he could sneak up, grab her and get her to show him all about this place. It was always easier to figure out what you wanted when you had a guide. If she was scared she would tell him anything. He didn't want to hurt her just get information, at least for now.

Rose was kneeling by the Doctor as he lay on the floor and she prepared to administer the last shot. She was concentrating on him. The Doctor heard a noise and looked up in horror at the man standing behind her. The Doctor barely could utter a sound before the man grabbed her and pulled her back, Rose gasped and dropped of the syringe and it went skittering across the grating.

"Now I'm not going to hurt you, little lady, I just want to talk."

Rose struggled against him. The Doctor had scrambled around and was reaching for her.

"Let her go!" he yelled.

Rose met the Doctor's eyes as she was pulled away, arms trapped. "Take the shot." She tried to look as convincing as possible. She was more than aware of the double edged sword they had before them. On one hand if he did take the shot he would be out of commission for who knows how long. On the other hand if he didn't take the shot he could stay paralyzed forever. In her mind he had to take it. He couldn't help her now, only able to drag himself along.

The Doctor must have been mirroring her feelings. The same doubt played across his face. He looked from her back to the shot and to her again. His face had gotten red as he slid from fright to anger then to rage. He rolled over to search for the syringe and the man took this opportunity to drag Rose away from the console and towards the hallway.

"Rose!" the Doctor bellowed.

"I'll be ok, just do it, now! You only have a few seconds!"

He found the syringe; it was just out of reach. He lunged for it, surprising himself with how quickly he made it. Not bothering to prep the area, he jammed it into his arm and pushed down the plunger.


	12. Chapter 12

Rose was being pulled back towards the hallway. She could hear clattering of tools on the floor behind the console. She closed her eyes praying the Doctor wasn't having another seizure.

"I don't want to hurt you," the man was saying. "My name is Joe. I just want you to show me around a bit." His breath smelt of old cigarettes and rotten teeth. He had her in a bear hug and was walking backwards. Rose initially panicked; the situation was overwhelming but knew she had to pull herself together. As he was stepping back she saw her opportunity and slammed her foot down on top of his other one with all her might. He howled in pain and loosened his grip slightly. She slid down so she could move her arms more and elbowed him squarely in the ribs. She could feel a sickening crack and he let out a loud groan. She started to escape, and just as she thought she was out of his grasp, he grabbed her elbow and tugged her back. He wrenched her arms behind her and growled in her ear."That's enough…Rose." His use of her name made her stomach turn.

The Doctor was struggling. His legs were kicking wildly and abdominal spasms had doubled him over. He knew needed to help Rose. That man had her now and it was time he joined the fight. He willed his legs to calm and the spasms to stop so he could move. Finally after 34 seconds (by his internal clock) his muscles started to relax. He grabbed his sonic and the containment device and reached up to set them on the console. Next he grabbed the console with both hands and pulled with everything he had, eventually rising to his knees. Almost all his weight was on his arms now but his abdominals seemed to maybe be holding steady for now. With another great heave he started to straighten his legs and begin to stand. It was more like a crouch really, but getting closer. His legs began to twitch and he lost his grip, crashing to the floor again.

He cursed under his breath. The man thought he was out of the picture, the element of surprise was on his side, but nothing was cooperating. He slammed his hand down on the grating in frustration. He could hear Rose struggling, the sounds of it tearing at his hearts. He reached up once more, grabbing the console again and pulling with everything he had.

Joe was on the move pulling Rose along. She resisted every step. She was certainly not going to go easily. They had almost reached the hallway when Joe stopped. Rose looked up too. There, behind the console, STANDING, was the Doctor. He held the sonic in his left hand and the containment device in his right. Rose felt a wash of relief. She honestly thought he may never stand again.

Joe stammered, "Hey I thought you were a cripple!"

"That is not a nice word." The Doctor retorted, his face was tense and his words were strained. Rose felt Joe's grip unclench a bit with his shock. She took the opportunity and bit him hard on the arm.

"OWWW!" Joe dropped her other arm and Rose kicked out, landing the blow to his knee. Rose broke free and scrambled onto the ramp back towards the Doctor, who at that moment activated the device and threw it at Joe's feet. Joe was instantly enveloped in the red glow of containment.

With a glance back to make sure it worked, Rose stood and ran now, to him. Just as she got onto the landing and was a couple of feet away he turned and looked at her gratefully, started to reach out to take her hand and crumpled to the floor.

"Doctor!" she ran to him. "Are you OK?"

"Well my pride, what little I had left of it, was wounded for sure, but I'm ok. Can you help me up though? I might be able to make it to the jump seat if you give me a hand." She helped him straighten himself out and pull himself close to the seat. His legs helped push him along. She then hugged him around the middle and heaved him up. He grabbed the back of the seat and swung himself up onto it, griping it tightly.

"That was easier than I thought." she said, still a little out of breath.

"Yeah I can push a little now so you didn't have to lift all of me. I'm heavier than I look." He grinned again at her. This time she had a chance to return the expression.

Joe was howling and cursing across the room. The Doctor looked over and pointed to him. "Well someone must have figured out that the walls sting. You can just lift the box and it will maintain the field while you lead him out. Then just push the button and it will dissolve. Make sure you are far enough away though. I don't want him grabbing you again."

"Yeah, let's avoid that again shall we?" Rose went over to Joe and picked up the containment device. She then started walking towards the TARDIS door. The red walls shifted to follow her and Joe yelled "OW HEY!" as the back wall stung him again.

"Better keep moving then, Joe." She led him outside, him grousing the whole way. The Doctor watched the little parade from his perch on the jump seat with amusement. Rose opened the door and disappeared for a moment. He heard her yell "Get Lost!" and then she appeared back through the door, shutting it behind her. She caught his gaze and smiled brilliantly.

Rose skipped up the ramps to join the Doctor. She loved this part. He opened his arms widely and took her into a warm hug.

Rose?" he said after a few moments of them both enjoying the embrace. Can you help me again?" She looked up at him hopefully.

"Anything."

"I think I can maybe try to walk a little now, with your help. And I suddenly realized that I am very hungry. You must be too. "

"Famished."

They worked together, him leaning heavily on her and her encouraging him along. The first steps came slowly and were quite shaky. He first made it to the console, where he rested a bit. Then she helped him around it so he could be sure there was an adequate force field and perception filter in place.

Finally she helped him towards the library, where he could be the most comfortable. Just as he reached the hallway he faltered a bit.

"I can tape you back in the chair if you like." She had a twinkle in her eye.

He had placed one of his hands on the wall for support, his other arm around her shoulders. "Not on your life, you had WAY too much fun with that. " Even through his pain and fatigue he managed to smile at her again.

"Oh I don't know. I could probably take you in a fight right now."

"You may be surprised Rose Tyler." he winked at her.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN:Thanks for reading! This is all for this story. I have more in the works. Please review, it helps to know I am doing this right. **

Rose helped the Doctor all the way to the library. He seemed to get stronger with each step but his balance was still off. She led him to the couch and he sat down hard, pain still evident.

"Food ya? "

"Yeah." His eyes were closed and his head was back but he was still awake.

She went and prepared food in the galley. She could tell that Joe had been in there, and she figured that the TARDIS would clean up his mess. She picked up anyway just to allow the TARDIS to work on fixing herself.

She returned a few minutes later. The Doctor hadn't moved and was breathing slowly and evenly while his head rested back on the couch. She set the food tray down gently on the table in front of them and then sat on the far end of the couch so as not to wake him. His eyes popped open.

She was a bit surprised to see him awake."Oh I thought you had fallen asleep."

"No," his voice was low but not strained anymore. He looked at the food in front of him. She had brought finger sandwiches and electrolyte drink. "You're not going to feed me again? That was fun."

"I don't know. Do you want to get injured again?" she threatened with a grin.

"Well that was an interesting day." He had snagged a sandwich and talked to her while chewing.

"It certainly started out better than it ended." She scooted a little closer to reach for a sandwich. "You did great; I can't believe how bad you were wounded and how far you came back. I was really scared for you. And of course, not bad for a man in his jim jams!"

He laughed at the reference. "We seem to be making a habit of you having to change my clothes." His expression became serious. "You know, I'm not the only one who gets injured when we find trouble." He reached out and rubbed the scar he had found earlier on her upper arm before they had left for the village. It seemed so long ago.

Rose put her hand on top of his for a moment. "I will never be as strong as you."

He scoffed, "Rose, you were magnificent. Remember I told you that you just needed the right set of circumstances? I never would have survived without you. You know that if you hadn't been so good I may have even left before getting the chance to regenerate. Even if I hadn't I never would have been able to heal properly. You saved me. That's all there is to it. You were the strong one today. "

Rose blushed. She didn't quite know what to say. He was staring at her so intently. She opted to deflect. "So what about you? Is this it, or will you continue to improve?"

He inhaled deeply through his nose, as if he wasn't done with his original topic. "Yeah I'm getting better. The nerves will still be growing back together for a day or so. I think I will be weak for at least that long. All I need is time now; and your superior domestic skills of course. A little kip won't be bad either." he put his last bit of sandwich in his mouth and rested his head back again, closing his eyes.

Rose got up and fetched a blanket to cover him. He hummed at the warmth. She got the remote from the table, started a movie with low volume and returned to her spot on the end of the couch. When she glanced back at him, he had one eye open and fixed on her.

"You don't have to sit so far away." he said, just above a whisper.

"I thought you wanted to sleep."

"Well yeah, but it's ok for you to get closer. You won't hurt me, and besides I know how much you like to cuddle."

"WHAT? YOU WERE AWAKE WHEN I WAS…I THOUGHT YOU WERE…" Her face grew instantly red.

He grinned his thousand watt smile at her, and she chucked a pillow at his head and climbed up next to him, sharing the blanket.


End file.
